HOLYOKE – Police charged a 24-year-old O’Connor Avenue man with arson following a fire that heavily damaged his home Tuesday afternoon.

The fire at 19-21 O’Connor Ave. was reported about 3 p.m. Police arrested Jose R. Trillo, of 19 O’Connor Ave., after receiving a report of a suspicious person about an hour later at the Sears Auto Center on Lower Westfield road, according to police documents.

Trillo faces a single count of arson of a dwelling.

Holyoke police Chief Anthony Scott said that police were called just before 4 p.m.. by a clerk at the Sears Auto Center, who said there was a man in front of the store who claimed to have set fire to a house on O'Connor Avenue.

Scott said when officer Brenden J. Boyle arrived in front of Sears, Trillo stood up, turned around, spread his legs and put his hand behind his back . When Boyle stopped his cruiser and got out, Trillo, without any prompting, said "I did it."

Scott said that in his 40 years as a police officer, this is the first time he can recall a suspect confessing to a serious crime "without any interrogation or investigation" by police.

None of the residents were home at the time of the fire, but three firefighters suffered injuries battling the blaze, Lt. Thomas Paquin said.

One firefighter burned his hand, another injured a leg, and a third was overcome by heat, Paquin said. “They were taking a beating in there because it was so hot and (smoky,” he said.

All three were taken to Holyoke Medical Center for treatment, Paquin said.

The fire department was alerted by a 911 call at about 3 p.m.

Paquin said a neighbor heard a smoke detector blaring but did not call for the fire department for about 45 minutes.

When the first firefighters arrived, the fire appeared to be confined to the third floor, he said.

Fire fighters gained entry to the house and found a mattress in a third-floor bedroom on fire. As they started putting it out, he said, “fire started popping out of the walls and floors on the three floors on both sides of the house.”

The fire was under control before 4 p.m., and firefighters spent several minutes searching for remaining hot spots, Paquin said.

The Victorian-era house, constructed in 1880, is owned by David and Elizabeth Martinez.

Paquin said he was told two families, totaling seven people, live there.